Tanken
Tanken "Dagger" Hiyahi was a tiefling miner and thief, originally from Thyrigen and living in Shadows. Appearance As a child, Tanken wore a red cloak that completely covered her body except for her feet and face. Her feet were covered in pointed boots, while she covered her face with a wooden mask with the symbol of her clan, a target, carved into it. Underneath her cloak, though no one could see, her entire body was wrapped in bandages in lieu of traditional clothing. As an adult, Tanken usually wore typical miner's clothing with leather armor over the top and a warm fur coat over it all. Her face now revealed, she appeared as a red-skinned purple-eyed tiefling of above-average height with long spiky black hair. Her hard work in the Ice Mines gave her a stronger than average physique. She carried two pickaxes with her at any given time which she used in her work and as weapons when necessary. History Tanken was born in Thyrigen's Dark Province in 1511 as the younger sister of Guntō Hiyahi. For much of her early life, she remained oblivious of Guntō's work as an assassin, as he kept it from her to keep her safe and protect her innocence. When he began to work for King Trevor the Timid as the royal bodyguard, his arrangement did not include any form of monetary payment, and as such Tanken grew up very poor. She turned to thievery in order to provide for her brother and herself, although she tried to only take what she needed. In 1525 at 14 years of age, Tanken played a minor role in the Death Crisis by acting as a form of inspiration to her brother and the Cultbusters. Towards the end of the Crisis, Guntō sent Tanken away to an unknown location so as to get her away from the potential danger. Tanken ended up in the country of Dytana, far away on the other end of the world. She lived there for a time mostly relying on her thieving skills to survive. In 1527, the Exotic War broke out in Dytana. As a tiefling and therefore an "Exotic," Tanken was treated very poorly during this time, despite being new to the area and thus not fully aware of what was going on. When the War ended in 1532, Tanken moved to the newly-established Shadows, specifically the city of Snow. Once there, Tanken joined the growing number of workers in the Ice Mines and quickly grew in skill and renown. She eventually came to be the new foreman of the Ice Mines. In 1535 during the Time Crisis, one cycle saw Tanken recruiting the Royal Detective Agency to clear the Ice Mines and destroy an experimental Mining Machine that had gone haywire. This inadvertently helped them, as it led to them discovering the Ice Shard. During another cycle, the RDA attempted to contact Tanken and warn her of the approach of Just, who was planning on razing the city. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful, as Tanken did not recognize them. Thankfully, the True Cycle saw Just being killed by the RDA, thus keeping Tanken safe. After the Time Crisis, Tanken presumably continued her work at the Ice Mines. As Guntō purposefully did not want to know where he sent Tanken, it is unlikely that they ever saw each other again. Personality and Relationships Tanken was generally shy but also very curious, wanting to observe people but generally avoiding direct communication wherever possible. She also did not speak Common for much of her life, and even as an adult struggled with it as her second language, which made it difficult for her to talk with others. For much of her childhood she was very naive, asking very few questions to her brother and those around her about why things were the way they were. For example, she didn't question why they were extremely poor despite her brother working for the royal family. Throughout her life, Tanken was a very hard working, doing everything she could to assist her brother as a child and putting her entire life into the Ice Mines as an adult. Although she was skilled at thievery and used it to survive for much of her life, she generally disliked it and found much more benefit and joy in earning her keep through honest work. She was extremely kind to strangers in her own way, offering them what she could and, though rarely initiating conversation, politely chatting and answering questions when prompted. Tanken loved her brother greatly, and always wanted to be with him despite his dangerous job. As an adult, she never felt anger or regret for her brother's choice to send her away, although she did wonder what had happened to him but didn't know how to contact him. Although they knew each other for a relatively brief period of time, she always honored her brother and appreciated him for doing his best to protect and care for her during a trying time. She had a brief relationship with the Cultbusters, particularly Larknyxtryxiath Thurgrundir, who had a crush on her despite the age difference. Unfortunately, with Tanken leaving Thyrigen and Larknyxtryxiath dying at the conclusion of the Death Crisis, their relationship never progressed. Trivia * Tanken's name means "dagger cold fire" in Japanese. ** "Dagger" is intended to reflect her status as Guntō's ("military sword") younger sister, as well as her thieving skills. ** "Cold fire" is intended to reflect her status as a good-aligned tiefling. * Tanken was the first non-player character to appear in multiple campaigns, appearing in Thyrigen and the Quartz Watch.